Film Openings

Week of May 28, 2003

Finding Nemo . Andrew Stanton. Walt Disney's latest kiddie epic originated at the much-praised Pixar Animation Studios, and like its predecessors (the Toy Story movies and A Bug's Life), this comforting, elaborately mounted undersea fable is long on technical dazzle and a bit short on storytelling. It concerns a wayward little clownfish (voiced by nine-year-old Alexander Gould) who winds up entrapped in a far-off aquarium and the quest of his timid and fretful father (Albert Brooks) to find his son and fetch him back to their reef. The Pixar wizards -- more than 180 of them -- have created a delightful undersea world that's worthy of Disney's good name, and, message-wise, the kids get a universal story of growing up, gaining courage and taking solace in the love of a reliable parent. As for the movie's trio of hungry sharks, they're really deep into a self-help program designed to improve their public image. Opens Friday, May 30, at multiple locations. (Bill Gallo)

Wrong Turn . Rob Schmidt. Somehow, director Schmidt (of the iffy, pretentious Crime and Punishment in Suburbia) has managed to keep working. His latest effort concerns teens chased through the mountains of Virginia by -- what else? -- hideously deformed inbred cannibalistic mutants. In case you don't get enough of this in real life, you might consider joining Eliza Dushku and Jeremy Sisto for their little adventure. Or you might not. With effects by Stan Winston. Opens Friday, May 30, at multiple locations. NR